A Celebration, A Place Called Pardners, and a bunch of Wildfires...

My weekend was more than eventful....


It started Friday with Bob's Celebration of Life. I posted the tribute I read here. It was a pretty fantastic service with Beach Boys music, Hawaiian shirts, and a message about "riding the eternal wave." I just hope that one day my life can be reflected in my funeral with the same kind of fun and celebration.

After the service our whole family gathered and had one hell of a BBQ. There was lots of swimming and eating and laughter. It wasn't until almost midnight that we called it a night.

The next afternoon I headed out to Lake LBJ with my boyfriend and his family. We jet-skied and soaked up the sun all afternoon and evening. That night we got ready and headed to one of the only bars in Kingsland, TX called "Pardners."


Pardeners is one of a kind. It's a big red barn on the side of road with a big gravel parking lot where signs on the door instruct you to "leave your spurs and knives."


Upon entering you pay a cover based on if you are "a beer drinker" or "just dancin."


At the bar there are hand printed menus of jello shots. Not too outrageous, but the menu is a mix of colors, flavors and alcohols... example...

Red= Strawberry
Blue= Coconut
Yellow= Malibu
Purple= Vodka
Watermelon= Pink


You get the idea. It simple makes zero sense. Next to this menu is a sign that reads, "Hot Checks are Not Cool." I'm just wondering who pays their bar tab by check? Oh and the other sign I really loved was the one in the bathroom. It read, "Please let us know if there is a problem in here, we want to keep the bathrooms working good." Yep, "working good." Unreal.


Anyway the centerpiece of Pardners is their dance floor that sits underneath a spinning, disco cowboy boot. Not a disco ball, but a disco BOOT. You can't make this stuff up.


Sometime after people-watching at a high round table in the corner, my boyfriend and I decided to try our luck at the two-stepping we'd watched all night. We started with the side by side stroll around the dance floor in sync with the other dancers. We added a little dip to our dance and laughed hysterically when we kept screwing it up (read: I kept screwing it up). Finally when the side by side two-step disaster was getting old, my boyfriend decided to pick me up and spin me around. And that's exactly what we did. We spun around like a pin ball bouncing off the other two-steppers who could not have been less impressed with our display. At one point, the DJ even made the remark over the sound system, "Well that is one way to dance I guess."


That's about the time we called it quits on the dancing. We laughed our way back to our table dodging disappointed stares and cowboys who were not taking kindly to our mocking. As we made our exit from the building we were now thankful that everyone's knives and spurs were required to be left in their trucks.


The rest of the time at the lake was relaxing and the long weekend ended for me with a family outing to the Round Rock Express game. The highlights of the game included the cooler weather, the Express win, and the head first dive I did into home plate after the game when the fans were invited to run the bases.

Unfortunately the holiday was not as carefree as it sounds. Our day at the ballpark was also spent constantly checking Twitter news feed updates on the area wildfires. From our seats at the stadium you could see atomic bomb sized smoke clouds to the East and West. From the beginning of the game until the very end something like 23 fires popped up all over Central Texas… one as close as 8 miles from my parent’s house.


Like everyone here in town, I know several different families that have lost their homes or been evacuated in several different fires from Steiner Ranch to Bastrop, including my uncle in Cedar Creek.


If you are anywhere close to these fires, have a plan. If you are a safe distance away, consider helping by donating what you can from water to clothes to food or even expertise if you are a trained responder. And no matter where you are in proximity to the fires say a prayer for those affected by and fighting these forces of nature.


I hate to end the post on a sad note, so I'll offer up a cliffhanger instead....


Look for my Injury Report later today.... my personal injury report... ridiculous I know, and definitely the first sign of my aging...


xoxo Sara Marie